


little life-giver

by The Byger (Byacolate)



Series: Easily [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Mama Stilinski, Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Derek and Stiles are the Same Age, Gen, Human Derek Hale, Kid Fic, M/M, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2013-02-10
Packaged: 2017-11-22 13:46:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/610467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Byacolate/pseuds/The%20Byger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It looked like Stiles. Mostly. But there was hair growing out the sides of his face, and his teeth were sharp, and when he reached over to grip at the side of the stall, his hands had become claws. And Derek had to cover his mouth before he screamed because never, never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought he’d actually meet a fairytale monster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was in the middle of play time, and Derek was halfway through making a tower with his own Legos when someone shot past him toward the door. Most of the others in their class were doing craft, but Derek always insisted on playing with Lego instead; Stiles always liked doing the craft, so why would he run out of the room like that?   
  
The teacher hadn’t noticed. Some of the kids did, but they didn’t kick up a fuss. They were used to Stiles acting funny and doing weird things. Derek stood up and quickly put away the Lego blocks, and then asked if he could go to the bathroom. He didn’t know why he wanted to know why Stiles had run out, but he just did, and it seemed more interesting than playing with toys he could play with at home any time he liked. And besides, he kind of did need to go to the bathroom.   
  
Moving quickly, Derek was able to catch a glimpse of Stiles disappearing into the boy’s room at the end of the hall. He didn’t run, because they weren’t allowed to run in the halls, but he did shuffle quickly along the wall on his tiptoes and pushed open the bathroom door to find it... empty. All but one closed stall at the opposite side of the room. The door swung shut behind him as Derek stepped closer to the occupied stall, his heartbeat racing. “Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.   
  
There was a crashing sound, like something big being thrown against the metal walls, but nothing had seemed to fall. “Fine! Go away!”   
  
It was definitely Stiles’ voice, but it sounded... weird. Garbled, almost. Derek hesitated at the door, not sure what he should do. “You... want me to call someone? If I ask the teacher, she could probably get your mom or dad.”  
  
“No, I- Please, just go away.”  
  
Derek sighed, and slowly walking backwards, he left the bathroom. He went to the bathroom in another hall instead because, even if Stiles didn't want to talk to him, he still had to pee. On his way back to class, though, he paused at the first bathroom. Would Stiles still be in there? Just to make sure, he pushed open the door.   
  
There was a muffled thump and a low, growly groan, and Derek nearly turned on his heel and walked right back out. But the stall door from before was still closed up tight, and Stiles was probably still in there. He could have been hurt. He could have been sick. Derek couldn’t just leave him there when he might need help. Not when Stiles had always been around to help _him_ , even though they weren't really friends. So he swallowed the lump of fear in his throat and moved further into the room. “Stiles?”  
  
But that - the sound that came from the stall - didn’t sound like Stiles. It was kind of growly, and almost not human. Derek thought of the sound his new puppy would make when one of the bigger dogs tried to take away his bone. Derek gulped, eyes wide, and went to the stall.  
  
The hinge was hanging strangely, almost like it was broken, and it took only a little bit of jiggling before the door swung inward. And what he saw in there made Derek back up until he hit the sink.   
  
Staring back at him with bright, glowing blue eyes was Stiles. Or at least it _looked_ like Stiles. Mostly. But there was - there was hair growing out the sides of his face, and his teeth were sharp, and when he reached over to grip at the side of the stall, his hands had become claws. And Derek had to cover his mouth before he screamed because never, never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought he’d actually meet a fairytale monster.   
  
But as frightened as he was, Derek almost missed the look of fear in Stiles’ eyes. In fact, he might have missed it entirely if it weren’t for the little whimper he made as he tried to close and lock the door again - a fruitless endeavor, as it swung open each time he slammed it shut.  
  
Derek found himself stepping forward, actually reaching out a hand to hold the door open. “Stiles? It’s... it’s alright, I won’t hurt you.” He wasn’t sure what he was saying, because why would Stiles, who had claws and fangs and strange eyes, think that Derek was trying to hurt him? But it actually seemed to work. Stiles seemed to be calming down, and he finally stopped crouching on the top of the toilet. His legs slipped down until his feet touched the floor.   
  
“I-I can’t turn back,” he whispered around the fangs. Stiles still sounded terrified. Derek swallowed and looked over toward the bathroom door before grabbing the lock handle on the stall.   
  
“It’s okay,” he said softly. His parents sometimes used that voice when they accidentally stepped on a dog’s paw and made them whimper. Stiles was whimpering, so he hoped it might help, even just a little. “I can hold the door closed until you do. If you want me to.”  
  
Stiles nodded quickly, and Derek grabbed the bottom of the door and pulled it shut. Since he wasn’t tall enough to reach the top, he just sat on the floor, holding the door. He could hear Stiles make small sounds every once in awhile, but they eventually started sounding more human than animal, until they stopped completely.  
  
“Are you better now?” Derek asked, after he heard a sniffling that definitely sounded human.  
  
“Y-yeah, I think so.” Stiles pushed the door open, and Derek stood up. The other boy had snot running down his face, so he grabbed some toilet paper and wiped it off. But then Stiles started staring at him and he realized he might be doing something weird, so Derek quickly threw the wad of tissue away and wiped his hands on his pants, stepping back.   
  
“Okay. That’s... good.”  
  
Stiles watched him with a slack jaw and wet, red eyes, and Derek was kept on his toes, as though Stiles was about to say something at any moment. They both jumped when the bathroom door swung open and their teacher stood in the doorway, livid. “You boys have spent far too long here. And Stiles, you didn’t even ask. I didn’t know where you were!”  
  
Stiles actually started snickering, and Derek looked at him, wide eyed. He was gonna get them in trouble! But then Stiles looked up at their teacher with a grin. “You’re in the boys' room!”  
  
She walked in and put a hand on both their backs, steering them out of the room. “I can be in the boys' bathroom when there are boys being bad inside. Don’t make me give you both a black card; you won’t get a sticker.”  
  
They exchanged startled glances and sealed their lips, hustling back to the class and behaving perfectly for the rest of the day. Derek couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d seen, not once for the whole day, and when they packed up to leave for the day, he almost went to Stiles to ask about it. He quickly lost his nerve, though, because even though Stiles had stood up for him before to Derek's bullies, they never really talked, and Derek was afraid Stiles might not like him, and he didn’t want to make Stiles dislike him more if Derek bugged him about it, so he just quietly followed the line to the bus stop without looking at Stiles once.  
  
Before his bus had time to arrive, though, a hand pulled him out of the line. Derek looked over to see Stiles, standing at his mother’s side. He looked up at Mrs. Stilinski, who was smiling down at him. “Hello, Derek. Would you like to have a playdate with Stiles tonight?”  
  
Derek’s gaze went between Stiles, who was nodding quickly at him, and his mother, who was smiling sweetly down at him. “Um...”  
  
“We'll call your parents for permission, of course. Do you know your number? We can give them a call from the office.” Mrs. Stilinski reached a hand down, urging Derek to take it, and took Stiles’ hand on her other side.  
  
Stiles grinned over at him. “I have a bunch of games at my house. You’re good at games, right? I normally play with Scott, but he’s not that good, and I always beat him.”  
  
Derek looked down at her hand and then over at the bus, his heart jumping. He was probably in trouble, and if he wasn’t now with Mrs. Stilinski, then he would be with his parents for missing the bus, and he didn’t know who to apologize to or what for. It had to be because of what he’d seen. Shaking his head, Derek opened his mouth to apologize, feeling hot all over with fright, and then there were soft brown eyes suddenly level with his, and the woman gently placed her cool palm over the side of his neck. “Don’t be afraid, Derek. We only wanted to thank you.”  
  
He opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say, so he looked down to the ground. Then they went to the office, and he gave his father’s number for Stiles’ mom to dial. Stiles grabbed his hand and swung them by their sides. “Hey Derek, Derek, hey Derek, serious question. Do you play Donkey Kong? ‘Cause if not, I can teach you. Maybe you can come over more often, so we can play a lot?”  
  
He was about to respond when Mrs. Stilinski handed him the phone, and he heard his father on the other line. “Hey Dad... Can I play over at a friend’s house? Because the bus is probably already gone and I-”  
  
“Of course, that’s fine. Just give me their home phone number, alright? And be home in time for dinner. And make sure your homework is done,” his dad said, and Derek smiled a little because those were the same instructions that he gave to Laura when _she_ went to a friend's house. He had never gotten those instructions before. Maybe, if he wasn’t in trouble, this could be fun? Stiles kept beaming at him and squeezing his hand, which was... different. But different in a nice way. People had stopped holding his hand a long time ago. Stiles, though, seemed to have no qualms just squeezing and swinging and pulling Derek around. Turns out, Derek really didn’t mind being yanked along by Stiles.   
  
“Buckle up, boys,” Stiles’ mother chirped from the front seat of her car a short while later, and they both obeyed quickly. Stiles went on chattering about the games they could play, and the woods behind his house, and the comic books on his shelf, and that was fine, because Derek wasn’t really much of a talker himself.  
  
They turned down a nice looking neighborhood, and into the driveway of a cozy looking house that was much smaller than Derek's. Mrs. Stilinski turned off the car, and turned around to them. “Alright boys, why don’t you go play for a while. When Stiles’ dad gets back, we’re gonna have a little talk, but until then you can play whatever you want. Sound good?”  
  
“Yeah! Thanks Mom!” Stiles ran out of the car and up to the house, but then had to wait for his mother because she had the house keys. Derek followed along behind, worrying about what their ‘talk’ would be about. There had to be a talk. Whenever grown ups were involved, there was always talking.  
  
Derek wasn’t used to going to other peoples’ houses or playing with friends or being in unfamiliar locations, so when Stiles brought him up to his room, Derek stood with his back against the wall by the door and watched as Stiles jumped around and held up all the things he’d talked about before. It ate up plenty of time, but eventually Stiles wound down with a fistful of comics in one hand and a Gamecube controller in the other as he stared expectantly at Derek, out of breath from chattering so long and hard. There was a bright grin plastered to his face that Derek felt almost helpless staring at. “I... the... the game, please,” he said quietly, and Stiles immediately tossed his comics onto the bed and plopped down on the floor in front of his TV, holding up a black controller toward Derek as the screen loaded.   
  
“When does your dad get home?” Derek asked, a little afraid of the answer.  
  
“Probably soon. He’s normally here before dinner. Don’t worry, I just told mom you helped me with the... problem,” Stiles said as he went through the startup screens of the game. “And Dad is cool. Whenever I do something wrong, and Mom tells me to go to my room, he always sneaks me candies.”  
  
Derek didn’t know how to respond to that, so he didn’t, sitting down cross-legged beside Stiles and staring down at the controller. “I’ve never played this before,” he confessed quietly, and Stiles sniffed. “What, Pokemon Stadium? It’s easy, I’ll teach you.”  
  
“No. This.” He pointed at the console. “I don’t really play video games.”  
  
“You don’t?” Stiles gaped at him, and Derek felt his face heat up. “What do you play with then?”  
  
He shrugged at that. “Me and my brothers usually play football. And baseball. And softball. And-”  
  
“Okay, you play a lot of ball games. No wonder you’re so skinny.” Stiles grinned and poked at Derek’s arm. “How many brothers do you have? I know you have a sister in sixth grade, but I didn’t think you had that many.”  
  
“I have four brothers and three sisters. And there are a few cousins that live with us,” Derek said with a shrug. He was the youngest, so everyone else took care of him.   
  
Stiles looked a little strange at that, not like he was sad but almost like he... wanted it. “I wish I had a big family like that. Sounds really fun.”  
  
“Not really. Grant always picks on me,” Derek said with a pout. But he couldn’t actually imagine not having any siblings around. They were just always there. Now that he thought about it, Stiles' house was really quiet. “Everyone has to share things. Even Laura doesn’t have her own TV. And I don’t get to sleep in my own room, either.”   
  
“Really?”  
  
“Yep. Mom says I can have my own room when Kenneth moves out, but that’s not for three more years.”  
  
Stiles looked at him with wide eyes, and actually seemed to forget about the game for a couple seconds. Then he looked back to the screen and tried to regain his points. “That’s weird. But at least you’re never lonely, right?”  
  
Derek shrugged, because that really wasn’t true. Being the quietest voice in the family, he usually just didn’t bother talking. He knew very well what it was like to be lonely in a big crowd. But that wasn’t something he wanted to talk about with his new (tentatively named) friend, so he tried to figure out what the buttons on the controller did. “But you’re friends with Scott, right? You must always be playing with him and stuff.”  
  
“Yeah, sometimes,” Stiles said, painstakingly creating his attack. “Scott’s okay. But sometimes it’s kinda weird, y’know, not being able to talk about the change and stuff.”  
  
Derek glanced over at him, watching as Stiles’ tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he executed the attack. “You mean the, um...”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
He cleared his throat at that, figuring that they were gonna talk about this now. “So... You’re a werewolf then? Is that what I saw?” Because he had been replaying it over and over in his head all day, and that was all he could come up with.  
  
“Uh, yeah, I was kinda wolfing out there. It’s close to the full moon, and Jackson made fun of my daddy. I got angry.”  
  
“Oh.” Derek looked down at his controller for a moment, then back up at Stiles, and then over to the screen. “Cool. Jackson’s a jerk anyway.”  
  
“I know!” Stiles crowed, smashing at the buttons so hard that Derek was afraid they might break. “He’s so mean! I don’t know why everyone likes him!” He quickly put the game on pause and stood up, going to the door. “I want soda, d’you want soda? We have good soda.”   
  
Derek put down his own controler and nodded. He didn’t even think about following, he just did. There was something that felt weird about staying in a strange bedroom all by himself, so he walked after Stiles to the kitchen, where Mrs. Stilinski was talking on the phone.  
  
Stiles paused, and seemed to be listening to what they were saying. “She’s talking to daddy.”  
  
“How can you tell?” Derek asked as Stiles opened the fridge and stood on his tiptoes to reach the shelf with all the soda.   
  
“I can hear him on the other end.”  
  
Derek’s jaw dropped. Stiles grinned and passed him a Sprite so cold that Derek had to switch it from hand to hand. “That’s so cool!”  
  
“Yeah, we can hear really well. And smell, too.”  
  
That was pretty interesting. Derek opened the can and slurped at it. “So... how well can you smell?”  
  
“I can smell that you had a chocolate chip cookie for lunch. And I can smell that you went in the sand box at break.” Stiles scrunched up his nose at that, and shook his head. “You really shouldn’t go in there. Cats always go pee in it, and it smells gross.”  
  
Derek grimaced. Stiles had definitely ruined the sandbox for him forever. “I smell like cat pee?”  
  
“No, just sand. They pee in the corners.” He cracked open his can and grabbed Derek’s free hand. “I’ve never been able to talk to anyone about this before! Except my mom and daddy, ‘course, but it’s not like talking to another kid about it. I always have to keep it a secret.”  
  
“I won’t tell,” Derek insisted. He’d never had anyone else’s secret to protect before. He’d guard it with his life. Stiles grinned.   
  
“I know you won’t. I can hear you’re telling the truth.”  
  
Before he could ask about that, Stiles looked up, and Derek turned around to see Mrs. Stilinski standing behind him. “Your dad will be home soon. Do you boys want a cookie? I just made them today.”  
  
“Yeah!” Stiles yelled, and jumped up onto one of the chairs at the table. Derek followed him up, wondering what was going to happen when they had their talk. Stiles’ mom seemed nice, but he couldn’t stop the worry.  
  
Mrs. Stilinski tsked Stiles for drinking soda and not something healthier (“Especially since cookies just don’t taste the same with anything but milk”), and she sat down at the head of the table while the boys demolished her cookies, answering her questions about school and playtime until Stiles froze mid-sentence before jumping out of his chair. “Daddy!”  
  
He walked, still in his police uniform, and bent down to pick Stiles up. “Hey kiddo. Had a good day at school?”  
  
“Yeah! I learned how to spell some stuff in cursive! And subtraction, which is no fun at all. And the different parts of butterfly wings!”   
  
When he sat Stiles down on the chair, the police officer looked to Derek and gave a smile. “Well, you must be Derek. I’ve heard a lot about you today, son.”  
  
He squirmed in his chair, looking down at his cookie before setting it back on the plate. “Yeah.”  
  
“You’re not in trouble,” Mrs. Stilinski assured him gently from the other side of the table, pushing the plate closer to Derek. Stiles’ father took a seat at her side, sliding out of his coat. Stiles happily hopped out of his chair and took it from him, putting it on over his own shoulders before climbing back into his seat. “Actually, the opposite. Stiles told us you helped him out today.”  
  
“Oh... I guess so...” Derek said, looking down to his half eaten cookie. If they were still being nice to him, then he might not actually be in trouble, right?  
  
Stiles stepped in, gesturing with sleeves much too long for him. “He totally did! He held the door closed for me, so that no one would see. And he wasn’t scared, Dad! Well, maybe for a little bit, but he was pretty cool. And he didn’t tell anyone.”  
  
The officer nodded at that, giving Derek a little smile. “That’s good then. Now, Derek, you know how important it is that you keep this a secret, right? Just between you and us and nobody else.”  
  
“I won’t tell,” he said, lifting his eyes to look the man straight in the face like his mother had taught him to. Then he looked over at Mrs. Stilinski. “I promise. I won’t tell anybody.”  
  
“You can hear it, right, Mom?”  
  
“Yes, I can,” she said, running her fingers through Stiles’ hair. He beamed over at Derek. But Mr. Stilinski was still watching him sternly.

“You can’t even tell your family, though. No one can find out about us, Derek, do you understand that?” He sounded patient and kind, but Derek could hear the subtle threat behind it. He gave a firm nod.

“I won’t tell anyone. Ever.”  
  
“Good,” Mrs. Stilinski said, and it sounded final. Her husband sat back in his seat, and Derek let out a little breath he didn't know he'd been holding. “Now then. What do you boys want for supper?”


	2. Chapter 2

Derek didn’t know what he expected the next day at school, but this... wasn’t it. Stiles practically tackled him the minute he walked into the classroom, and was reprimanded by the teacher before they were both sent to their seats. Stiles grinned at him from across the room and waved and tentatively, Derek smiled back.  
  
After they finished math, Stiles went to sit in the empty seat right beside him, even though his seat was far away. “Hey, so tonight we’re going to have pizza. I know last night you couldn’t stay, but tonight you should come for dinner. Because it’s Friday so we don’t have to do stupid math homework tonight. Please Derek, please?” Derek felt a bubble of eagerness well in his chest in response to Stiles', but he didn't want to look overly excited, so he nodded slowly and stared down at Stiles' chin.  
  
“Alright. I’ll have to call my dad.”  
  
“Yes!” Stiles gave Derek’s shoulder a little shove before he jumped back over to his seat under the hawkish glare of the teacher. Derek felt warm and he couldn’t keep the weird little smile off his face. He kept glancing over at Stiles only to find him grinning from ear to ear and frequently looking back.   
  
At lunchtime, Stiles immediately took the empty seat next to him and opened his lunchbox. “Do you think she’d notice if I stay here all the time?” he asked, gnawing on his apple.  
  
Derek gave a smile at that. “Probably. You’re not that quiet,” he explained, and looked over to the corner of the classroom where Stiles normally sat. “Don’t... you want to sit with Scott? He’s looking over here...” But then the other boy started talking with Danny, so maybe he wasn't all that broken up about it.  
  
Stiles looked over, too, but didn't seem bothered. “Yeah. I like Scott, but I like you too. Because you know. About me. You should come sit with us. Scott needs help with math anyway, maybe we could both help him.”  
  
“I like math,” Derek offered weakly, and Stiles grinned.   
  
“That’s so weird.” He jumped at Derek’s frown. “Not in a bad way! Math is hard for lots of people. Like Scott! You’re really smart, right?” Derek shrugged. “Me too. I’m pretty smart, but I don’t like math.”  
  
“Do you like... reading?”   
  
Stiles nodded enthusiastically. “I love reading! And art, and science.”  
  
Derek snorted at that. “Science,” he muttered under his breath. “I like math ‘cause there is only one answer. I’m starting to get multip... lication. I use chocolate chip cookies.”  
  
“How can you use cookies for math?” Stiles asked, scrunching up his face like the very idea was absurd.   
  
“If you want to do three times four, you draw three cookies, and each cookie has four chips. Then you count the chips,” Derek said, shrugging. It had actually been something Laura had taught him. Stiles gaped at him with his eyes bugged out, and for a minute, Derek was worried that he’d said something weird. Then Stiles covered his mouth with a hand.  
  
“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard!” he squeaked. “That makes it a million times easier! Why doesn’t the teacher just say it like that?”  
  
Derek shrugged, but that pleasant warmth from earlier settled in his face and he shyly handed Stiles one of his celery sticks. In thanks, Stiles gave him half of his cookie. The same cookies his mom had made yesterday.  
  
But then the pleasant air was stifled when Jackson stomped over. “I want a cookie,” he said, and stood there like he expected to get it.   
  
“They aren’t your cookies, _Jackson_ , so you can’t have one.” Stiles frowned over at the bully. Jackson sniffed, folding his arms over his chest. Derek put the cookie in his lunchbox and shut it, just in case. Jackson had always picked on him, so he was used to giving things up, but not Stiles’ cookie. Nobody had ever given him their cookie before, even just part of it. “Go away, butthole," Stiles snapped. "We aren’t talking to you.”  
  
Jackson looked obviously angry, and he glared at Stiles. “Shut your poopy mouth, stupid.” He then stepped closer to Derek, standing over him. “Give me your cookie.”  
  
Stiles stood up, and Derek was happy to see he had a good inch on Jackson. “Don’t try to take his cookie! You’re stupid, stupid head, and you’re probably only six years old! Little six year old, not even seven!”  
  
And now, Jackson’s attention was squarely on Stiles. “I’m seven! I’m not six, I’m seven!”  
  
“You act like a six-year-old,” Stiles retorted, and when Jackson reached out to push him, Stiles grabbed his wrist and shoved him back. “Leave us alone!”  
  
“That’s enough! What’s going on here?” the teacher snapped, making her way around the tables to stand in between them. Stiles pointed at Jackson.  
  
“He’s trying to take our cookie!”  
  
“He pushed me!” Jackson said, sounding indignant. “And he said I was six. But I’m seven.”  
  
“He said I have a poopy mouth!” Stiles said, and Derek was really just trying to stay out of the way.  
  
The teacher sent all three of them into timeout, all in each separate corners of the room. But when Derek looked over to Stiles’ corner, he saw the other boy smiling at him, as if they weren’t in trouble right now.  
  
He waved, and Derek waved back. And the best part was that neither of them had to give up their cookie to that fartface Jackson Whittemore.


	3. Chapter 3

The thing about being friends with Stiles was that with Stiles inevitably came Scott. From what Derek could see from the outside, Scott was nice. He was a little goofy and not very good in class, but he didn’t pick on Derek and Stiles liked him, so he must be okay. And besides, Scott was Stiles’ friend, so Derek kind of had to like him.  
  
Stiles invited him over to color with them, so Derek sat down and looked over at Scott. “Hi.”  
  
“Hi,” Scott said, but didn’t seem that happy about it. “Stiles wants you to be our friend," he said haltingly. "But I think you’re kind of weird.”  
  
Stiles smacked his arm and told him to apologize or he would get the teacher. Scott apologized, and went back to coloring. Derek didn’t really mind though, and when Stiles asked him for the blue crayon, he gave it over easily. Derek wasn’t very good at coloring, but he liked to watch Stiles do it. Stiles was good at it. He stayed between the lines and made it look pretty, and everything he colored, he took home to his mother. Scott looked at him funny sometimes when Derek watched Stiles color. “Why aren’t you coloring?”  
  
Derek shrugged. “I don’t want to.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
Derek shifted in his seat. Stiles had been so impressed with him for being good at math that Derek didn’t want him to know that he wasn’t good at art. “I just don’t.”  
  
“Do you need the blue back?” Stiles asked and held out the crayon, as if there weren’t several other blues on the table.  
  
“No, I just don’t want to color,” he said, looking at Stiles, trying to make him understand that he didn’t want to and there was no reason why not. It wasn’t fair either that Scott took the blue from Stiles, because Stiles had been offering it to Derek, not Scott. But what could he do?  
  
Scott could talk to Stiles easily, too, in a way Derek couldn’t. They talked about movies and games and so many different things so quickly that Derek almost couldn’t keep up, much less participate in the conversation. He wouldn’t know what to contribute if he could. He didn’t know anything about what they were talking about, but it was fine, because as long as Stiles kept coloring, he could just tune them out and watch his hands move.   
  
His mother had wondered aloud the night before how he could have gotten attached to someone so quickly. After all, they had never even heard of Stiles before two weeks ago, and now he was practically all Derek could talk about. But Derek liked it, he liked Stiles. Stiles made him feel special, because they had a secret that they shared with each other. One that even Scott didn’t know. And that... that made it a little easier to hear them talk about things he didn’t understand, and color together when he couldn’t. Stiles had told him he was happy to have Derek because Derek knew something no one else did, and that one thing made it all okay.   
  
Still, it made the knot in his chest a bit tighter when Scott tried to pull Stiles away at lunch time, or when he cut in line to be next to Stiles, or when they ran off together at recess. Derek wished he could do that, but he wasn’t brave enough. What if tried to hang around too much and Stiles got tired of him like all of Derek’s brothers and sisters? More than anything, he didn’t want Stiles to start hating him, too.   
  
Which is why he never asked to go over to Stiles’ house, but he also never said no to him when he asked. Derek liked going over to his house, because there weren’t a bunch of people running around everywhere. Except a few times Scott was there too, and he always showed how good he was at the video games that Stiles liked to play. And for a while that happened, and Derek got used to Scott leaning over and not being very quiet at all when he asked why Derek was there, and if Stiles’ mom made him invite Derek over, even got used to the idea that she probably did, because as long as Stiles didn’t hate him, he could ignore Scott. He didn’t want to decline any invitations, even if Stiles’ mom had told Stiles to do it, even if Scott usually came along, because Stiles never treated him like an outsider.   
  
Derek realized at one point that the times he was invited to Stiles’ house with Scott were becoming few and far between until they didn’t happen at all. He knew Stiles just probably started inviting Scott over more and Derek less, but as long as he was invited at all, he was happy.   
  
And then one day, Stiles plopped in the chair next to Derek at lunch like usual and jostled Derek with his shoulder. “Wanna sleep over at my house tomorrow?”  
  
“Sleep over? Like... all night?” Derek asked, eyes going wide. That would be so cool if he could! To not sleep with his brother in a bed only yards awat from his, but to actually spend the whole night with Stiles... It would be the best. “Alright,” he said immediately.  
  
Stiles grinned at that. “Alright. Bring a sleeping bag and pjs. We can have a movie night! We should go rent a movie, mom would take us, and we could have popcorn!”  
  
Derek nodded eagerly and dipped his head low. His ears felt hot and he knew the smile on his face probably looked weird, so he hid it. “What kind of movies do you like?” Stiles asked, passing over his tomato, which he didn’t like but his mom always packed anyway. Derek knew she just wanted Stiles to be healthy, so in exchange, every day he gave Stiles his carrot sticks, even though he likes those more than tomatoes.   
  
“Funny ones,” Derek answered after much deliberation. “Sports movies.”  
  
“Sports?” Stiles wrinkled his nose. “If you say so.”  
  
“You don’t like sports movies?”  
  
“I don’t like sports!” Stiles laughed, gnawing on a carrot stick. “I like Aladdin. And the Pokemon movie.” He looked over at him and grinned. “But we can watch a sports movie if you want. But then we have to watch Aladdin. Or Hercules.”  
  
Derek nodded, taking this completely serious. “I like Beauty and the Beast.”  
  
Stiles’ sneaky grin curled at the corners of his lips. He nodded. “I knew you had to like Disney movies. Disney’s the best!”  
  
“Fox and the Hound makes Laura cry,” Derek divulged, and Stiles made a noise of agreement.  
  
“Bambi makes me cry. And my mom can’t even watch the Hunchback of Notre Dam all the way through.”  
  
Derek’s heart stuttered when he realized that this - this was what it must feel like to be Scott all the time. To be able to talk like this with Stiles about things they both understood. “We could watch Disney movies instead of sports movies,” he offered. “I’d be okay with that.”  
  
“Cool,” Stiles said with a smile. “And I like Beauty and the Beast too, because the Beast turns human in the end. Kind of like... well, you know,” he said with a small smile, glancing around the room to make sure no one was listening.  
  
“Oh, is that movie actually real? Did something like that happen with... you know?” Would that make sense? Would Stiles even know the answer? Stiles shrugged.  
  
“I dunno. Probably. One of us probably lived in a castle somewhere and fell in love with a human. Why?”  
  
Derek shrugged back, taking a bite out of his peanut butter sandwich. Stiles picked at his food and leaned against Derek’s shoulder, his voice secretive and low. “My parents were kinda like that, I guess,” he hummed. “My mom was a human once. Way before they met, but still, she was. She said that when they met, he was... mean. Alone. We’re not meant to be alone. But Dad was. He was a beta without an alpha, and when she - do you know what those are?”  
  
Feeling foolish, Derek shook his head. “Sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay! My mom’s an alpha. That’s like... the leader. The boss. Sort of. And before she came to Beacon Hills, my dad was a rogue beta - which is like... like a lone wolf? A wolf without a pack isn’t a good thing. But sort of, sort of like the Beauty and the Beast, you know, ‘You must control your temper!’”  
  
Derek snorted into his apple juice and Stiles laughed along with him.  
  
After the bell rang, they still didn’t move until a supervisor came and got them. Derek followed after Stiles, not wanting to fall too far behind. He was going to sleep over.  
  
The next evening, Mrs. Stilinski, who he had been instructed to call Julia, made them both popcorn, and let them put whatever they wanted on top. Which was probably a bad idea, because Stiles knew where the chocolate syrup and M&Ms were. But with their large bowl of popcorn and candy, Stiles picked out Aristocats to watch first. They had all night and both agreed that they should save Beauty and the Beast for last.  
  
About halfway through the Aristocats, Derek sat up from where he’d sunken deep into the sofa cushions and looked around. Sure enough, he realized what was different. “Stiles,” he said, catching the werewolf’s attention mid-bite. “Where’s Scott?”  
  
“I’unno,” Stiles mumbled with his mouth full of chocolatey popcorn. “Pro’ly home. Why?”  
  
He gave a shrug. “I thought... he would be at the sleepover too.” Because this seemed really special, and he had thought that Stiles would have invited more kids for a sleepover. Which meant Scott.  
  
“But I didn’t invite Scott. I just invited you. I thought you didn’t like Scott?” Stiles put the show on pause.   
  
Derek knew Stiles could hear his heart doing weird things, so he hastened to reply, “I don’t.... not like Scott!”  
  
“You don’t?” Stiles popped an M&M in his mouth. Derek vehemently shook his head. “Huh. It’s just... your scent goes all funny around him. It’s not as nice. It’s like you’re not happy or something.”  
  
“No, I... I mean, he doesn’t like me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like him.”  
  
“Yeah.” Stiles frowned. “I thought so. He’s so weird. I don’t know why he doesn’t like you, Derek. You’re awesome.” He put the bowl of popcorn in Derek’s lap and scooted over until they were pressed up side by side.   
  
Derek looked surprised, but then settled down next to him. “I think... you’re awesome, too,” he said, a little smile on his face. Yes, Stiles was definitely awesome. Much more awesome than Scott.  
  
When they watched Aladdin, Stiles confessed how much he loved Abu the most, because who didn’t like a monkey that wore a hat? Derek liked the genie best though, but he completely agreed that the monkey was pretty great. They made it through Pocahontas and Robin Hood after that before Derek was yawning and Stiles held up Beauty and the Beast. Derek knew that that meant the night was coming to an end, and when Stiles sat back down, Derek slowly sank against him. He didn’t want the night to be over. He didn’t want to fall asleep and have to wake up and leave.   
  
The movie was as good as always, but Derek didn't sing along like he did when his sister watched with him. Derek was pretty sure he fell asleep part way through, because he missed one of the songs, but it didn't matter because he was sitting on the sofa with Stiles, and they were having the best sleepover ever.  
  
Derek awoke with a start, because he was moving and he definitely wasn’t moving before, but in the dark, a woman’s voice shushed him softly. There was a creak of stairs, and Stiles’ mother whispered, “You were fast asleep. We’re bringing you to Stiles’ room.”  
  
The little boy nodded even though he didn’t know if she could see him, and grappled loosely with one of her shoulders.   
  
He was lain down on soft, cool sheets, and once Stiles’ body was rolled in next to his, dead asleep, big hands tucked them in and brushed the hair over his forehead, and as his friend’s parents tiptoed from the room, Derek felt he’d never liked two people so much in his life. Stiles made a little noise, not unlike one of Derek’s dogs when they slept, and some hard part of his head butted against Derek’s chin before Stiles nosed his way to the side of Derek’s neck. A little arm was wiggled around Derek’s waist, and Stiles huffed, sounding... happy. Satisfied.   
  
Being only half awake, Derek had no problem snuggling into Stiles and going back to sleep. It was comfortable, being wrapped in Stiles' arms, and Derek put his own arm around his friend as well. Within seconds, he was back asleep, holding on tightly.   
  
In the morning there were pancakes and bacon, and he woke up to Stiles' eyes shining blue, sniffing the air. Yes, he definitely loved this house. Stiles blinked a couple times, his eyes darkening back to their usual warm brown. “Did I wake you up? I’m sorry.”  
  
Derek shook his head, his fingers curling unconsciously around Stiles’ shoulder. He was so warm and snuggly here like this, and the last thing he wanted to do was move, even though his tummy did rumble at the yummy smells and he kind of had to pee. Stiles grinned and snuggled closer. Derek glanced around, trying to find a clock, but couldn't see one. "You're really warm," he said instead, cuddled close.   
  
Stiles seemed happy at that. "I'm always warmer than regular people. Sometimes warmer than this."

“Does that get too hot in the summer?”  
  
“Sometimes,” Stiles confessed. “But then I just wear less clothes. I’m used to it, anyway. But it’s nice, because I don’t get cold as fast as you. And if you’re ever cold, then I’ll be here to warm you up. Like this!” And he squeezed Derek tight, until Derek let out a little oomph, and then he relaxed his grip.  
  
"Good morning, you two. Pancakes?" Julia said with a smile when they stumbled their way into the kitchen. She put out plates for them and scooped out two pancakes each. The bacon was next, and when Stiles was finished drowning his food in syrup, Derek had some as well.  
  
"Thank you," he said quietly, and even though Stiles was attacking his with gusto, Derek felt weird eating before the adults had even sat down. Stiles took notice and pointed at Derek's plate, mouth half full.  
  
"Don't you like pancakes 'n' bacon, Der'k?"  
  
Derek nodded and shrugged. "Your mom and dad aren't eating yet, though."  
  
Stiles' father looked up from the cutting board where he was slicing oranges, pleasantly surprised, and then suddenly a warm kiss was dropped on the crown of his head from behind. For a minute, the air around him smelled sweet and spicy, Stiles' mom's shampoo, probably. "You're so polite, Derek. Such a good boy! Stiles, you could learn manners from him."  
  
Stiles just rolled his eyes, but he did sit back away from his plate and chewed sulkily and stared his parents down until his mother laid down a plate heaped with eggs and his father brought a bowl of mixed fruit and they joined the boys at the table.   
  
"I love bacon," Stiles said, grinning over to him. He had about five strips of crispy bacon already.   
  
Derek grinned over to him, starting on his pancakes when the adults sat down with their own plates of food. "Well Derek, when do your parents want to have you home? Are you in any rush?"  
  
The human pondered that for a moment. When he’d talked to his mother about it the day Stiles invited him over, she hadn’t specified a time, and he never really paid much attention to when his siblings got home from their various slumber parties, so he couldn't time it based on them. “I don’t know. I don’t think it matters.”  
  
John gave him a grin at that. “Well, later, I was going to take Stiles for a trip to a park. You can come along if you like.”  
  
Derek looked up at him with big eyes. “Okay! Yeah, I wanna come too. Please.” Which meant he could spend even more time with Stiles, instead of at home with his siblings. Stiles grinned and after giving him a little friendly kick under the table, he passed Derek one of his bacon strips.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone in class had been invited, which meant that Stiles would be there too, and that was the only reason Derek had come at all. When he looked around at all his classmates milling about, swarming the counter for shoes and figuring out which balls they could use, Derek couldn’t find the one face he wanted to see.   
  
All of the kids were getting into teams at each of the alleys, everyone wanting to be with Lydia, but of course Lydia was very picky about who would be bowling with her. She said it was because her lane wouldn’t have the bumpers up, so everyone there needed to be a good bowler, but Derek had his suspicions about the validity of that sentiment since her group was made up of only her closest friends, regardless of their bowling prowess.  
  
Derek stayed behind, not going to any of the teams. He wanted to make sure that if he went on a team, that Stiles would be there as well. And also, he figured not many of the kids wanted him in their groups. When all the lanes were full and he still hadn't caught sight of Stiles, Derek got a few coins from his pocket and went to the arcade. It was dark except for the flashing lights on the games, and it smelled like old popcorn, but it was empty, and so much better than being around a bunch of people who didn’t like him - or only were nice to him when he brought his new toys to school. Derek was a little upset that Stiles hadn’t come, though. He’d said he would if Derek did, but maybe Julia had told him no after all. There wasn’t anything Derek could do about that, so as long as he was really good at the games, he could make the coins last long enough to keep him busy until his mom came to pick him up.  
  
He was doing pretty good at a game of pinball, when there was suddenly someone behind him and he let the ball roll between the paddles.  
  
“Man, you got a nice score! I totally suck at pinball,” Stiles said, grinning as he waited for the next ball to be shot out.   
  
Derek looked over at him, a smile on his face. “I... I didn’t think you were coming.”  
  
“Sorry, Dad had a stop on the way. He said it would be quick but it took sooooo long. I thought you would be bowling?” Stiles asked as he took a few of his own coins, grabbing the machine next to Derek, who watched him for a minute before shrugging.   
  
“I don’t really like bowling,” he confessed, and Stiles snickered.  
  
“Me neither. It smells really gross all the time. I’m lucky I was able to pick your smell up at all, since bowling shoes smell so yuck.”   
  
He couldn’t help the small grin that curled his lips. “What do they smell like?” It was always fun, hearing Stiles describe things that smelled weird, or nice, or icky.  
  
“Like floor wax, and parmesan cheese.” He wrinkled his nose. “Besides, bowling is stupid. Why should I want to knock the pins down? What did they ever do to me?”  
  
Derek laughed and laughed at that, and eventually Stiles joined him, shoving Derek’s shoulder. “I’m serious!”  
  
“I know,” Derek giggled, rolling another quarter into his machine. “Sometimes my uncle brings us here, but only when he has to babysit. He’s really bad at it.”  
  
“Are you?”   
  
Derek shrugged. “I like soccer. And basketball. People are always moving around. Bowling’s boring.”  
  
“It _is_ boring!” Stiles said, grinning. “There isn’t even any running. It’s not a sport unless there’s running. Like lacrosse.” He had sometimes dragged Derek to watch the lacrosse team practice, and always said that one day he would be the captain of the team. Even if his dad didn’t want him to play. He said it would be an unfair advantage, and he might get worked up and lose control. Derek had heard that particular talk at least twice, once when Stiles’ father took them to the game, and once as they were leaving the game, Stiles buzzing with poorly contained energy.   
  
“Um,” he started, feeling a bit cautious, “if you want, though, you can... you can go play. You don’t have to stay because of me.”  
  
“Huh? We were just talking about how boring bowling is,” Stiles said, shooting his pinball up. “And how gross the shoes smelled.”  
  
“I know, but... if... if you wanted to go play with Scott or something, um.”  
  
Stiles leaned far back and glanced over toward the bowling lanes, to where Scott seemed to be almost throwing the ball at the bumpers deliberately. “Nah. Scott is having fun already. Even at boring bowling. And the other kids are buttheads.” He said it as if it was a fact, and turned back to his game, pulling back the pin and shooting the ball.  
  
Derek turned back to his game as well, trying to hide the smile on his face. “Yeah, they’re pretty big buttheads, aren’t they.”  
  
Stiles turned to grin at him like this was an incredible revelation that only they had reached, and in doing so, both of their pinballs fell through. Grabbing his hand, Stiles dragged Derek out of the arcade. “Come on, there are hot dogs, and I love hot dogs! And nachos! And hamburgers!”  
  
“You like everything!” Derek said, laughing. He could see Stiles’ dad sitting with the parents, and waved at him. He waved back, but seemed to be in deep conversation with Scott’s mom. They went to the food stand, and ordered two hot dogs and a hamburger and nachos. Derek took one of the hot dogs right away, and Stiles grabbed a plastic knife.  
  
“We can cut the hamburger in half, so we can each have some,” he explained. Derek did his best to hack the burger in half with the flimsy plastic knife, much to Stiles’ delight, and eventually they realized it was fruitless and just took turns sharing bites. Derek preferred plain mustard and Stiles liked his burgers thick with ketchup, but they compromised by squirting big dollops of both condiments on their plates and dipping them on each of their turns. Leftover, when they pooled their assets together, they only had enough money to buy one drink. Derek handed his over, more than happy to let Stiles use it to get himself a drink, because he’d been so nice to Derek when he didn’t have to, and Stiles took it with a smile, stumbling over to the counter.   
  
When he came back, he tossed Derek one straw and stripped his own. “I got Sprite. Is that okay?”  
  
“We’re going to share?” Derek asked, a little surprised. He had never shared a drink before.  
  
“Well of course. How else would we both have some?” Stiles asked like it was the simplest thing in the world. He stuck his straw in and slurped some up, and then took one of the nachos. Derek unwrapped his straw and stuck it in, and Stiles didn’t even give the drink a second glance when Derek slowly reached out to take it. That would have never happened at Derek’s house.  
  
“Thank you,” he murmured, taking a sip. Stiles grinned and kicked out until his sneaker tapped Derek’s.   
  
“So,” he said without preamble, “do you think you could stay the night?”   
  
Derek grinned around his straw. “I could ask.” Stiles grinned back at him, straw between his teeth.

Maybe one day, Derek thought, they could bowl together, just the two of them. Derek was pretty sure that as long as Stiles was there, anything they did could be fun. 

Even bowling.


	5. Chapter 5

Derek tightened the jacket around himself, trying to fight the wind. It was colder than normal that day, and he didn’t like it. It was getting close to Christmas break, and it kept getting colder. He hustled to keep up with all of the kids that jumped off the heated bus and out into the chill as they flooded into the school. The heating was probably broken or something, because it didn’t feel much warmer inside than it did outside. Derek made a beeline straight for his class, where he knew the teacher kept a portable heater that at least made things a little warmer.   
  
As soon as he rounded the corner toward their class, his entire mood lifted to see Stiles, who was wearing a scarf and held a big thermos in both of his hands, standing right outside the classroom door. Stiles must have noticed him, too, because he perked up and leaned away from the wall. “Derek! Mom made me hot cocoa, and I asked her to make some for you too!” He rushed over to meet Derek halfway and handed him the thermos. It was warm and comforting against his chilled fingers, and Stiles giggled, pressing his hot hands over Derek's cheeks.  
  
He looked down at the thermos, eyes big. “This is a lot of hot chocolate. Are you sure we can drink it all?” he asked, and they quickly moved down the hallway to the classroom. Stiles bumped against his side, their thick coats squished between them.   
  
“Yep! And Scott’s sick today, which means we both need table partners. You can be my partner!”  
  
“Are you sure?” Derek asked, because even though they had long since become friends, they still hadn’t sat together in class. Would the teacher even let them?   
  
Stiles just nodded his head. “I can just say that you _are_ Scott, you just forgot to put on your face.” He snickered into his scarf, a large grin on his face. Derek felt his eyebrows inch way up.   
  
“I don’t want to pretend to be Scott. You can be Scott. I’ll be you, so she isn’t confused.”  
  
“And then... we’ll tell her that Derek is out sick?”  
  
Derek nodded, and Stiles cackled like it was the most devious thing he’d ever heard. It didn’t work of course, not for a second, but in the end Derek still got to sit with Stiles.

And really, that's all he'd ever wanted, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> If you are so inclined, feel free to follow [Byacolate's Tumblr](http://byacolate.tumblr.com/) and [Tyger's Twitter](https://twitter.com/Whitetyger123).


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